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My new bike!

I've been saving for a while now. I need to get fit and I wanted a bike. You just go so much further for the effort you put in, which means I can put in the same effort as say running, but actually get somewhere.

I went to a local shop and said that I wanted to spend between $5-700. They pointed out some stuff. I'm 6'4", so getting a bike in my size is difficult. I didn't want anything special order because I knew I wouldn't get a deal. I wanted something in my size that was good for what I wanted to do (commuting, maybe some touring) that was a last year model.

They had three bikes. They were all on the heavy side and the componentry wasn't great for what I was looking to spend. I then asked what he had in maybe a higher price range. There was a 2008 Raleigh RX 1.0. The bike retails for $1200. It was marked down to $1000. I pulled $980 cash out of my pocket and told the salesman how much it was. " . . . So after tax it can't be more than . . ." he was catching on quickly. Needless to say I now have a $1200 bike $920+tax. Not bad.

Soon we are going to buy my wife a bike from the same place. Again with cash. They have a really nice '09 Giant FCR2 for $700 that I think my wife will like. Hopefully I can squeeze another $50 off the already reduced price.

Re: My new bike!

Congrats on the great deal! That's a good idea, only paying in cash; better to make a sale now for a little less than asking price then risk not making the sale. I'm going to be in the market for a new (to me) bicycle soon; I'll keep that in mind.

How do you like the Raleigh build/ride/etc? I don't really have much experience looking for bicycles (always just had yard-sale finds growing up), but the last one I had was a Jamis Lightfoot, I absolutely loved it. It's amazing the difference real quality makes (even if it was ~15-20 years old when I got it). I'd probably still be using it, but the centre gears got bent a few years back, and I never quite got them straight again...now when I try to ride it, after about a quarter mile the chain falls between two of the gears and gets stuck. So, anyways, do you think Raleigh would be a brand that you would recommend (keeping in mind that I'll probably be looking at used, not new)?

That we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin

Re: My new bike!

Raleigh, Trek, Giant, they are all good. Most bikes over a certain price point are going to be good no matter what the brand. I would say to spend at least $400 on a bike. Any less than that and you might as well just get the cheapest thing you can find at Wal-Mart.

My big recommendation would be to go and test ride a bunch of bikes. It's really hard to say what is going to feel best. You could ride a $1200 bike but not like it as much as a $700 bike. Also, if a bike doesn't do what you need it to, then to you it really is worthless no matter what you spent on it (ie, a $2500 mountain bike isn't going to be fun for road riding or commuting.)

As a rule of thumb, the more you spend (on a new bike) the more you are going to like it. The components get better, the frame gets lighter, everything is more reliable. Buying a used bike is going to require a lot research and patience. Anything more than a few years old should be quite cheap now. Bike tech has been getting better and better. My parents spent a lot of money on their bikes 20 years ago. At the time they were fairly high end. The bikes are steel framed and today are still pretty decent, but tanks in comparison to the bike I just got. This kinda wraps up my first point, that old used bikes aren't going to be that great, no matter what the person spent on it new. The second point is that if you spend a lot now, hopefully in twenty years your bike won't be a heavy old dinosaur.

Your best bet shopping used is to find a bike addict (they are everywhere) who's wife is going to divorce him if he doesn't get rid of a few bikes. You should be able to find something that was very high end a few years ago, that was babied or well maintained, and hardly used for half off or more. Just remember what I said earlier. That $3000 triathlon bike you found for $450 isn't going to do you any good unless you are doing a lot of triathlons.

Re: My new bike!

Thanks! I'll keep those brands in mind. I've seen a few bike shops around, so I think I'll visit a few of those and see if I can test ride some, but I'll definitely be going with used because tbh, $400 is close to my max right now, but I want something good. Like I said, most of my bikes growing up were yard sale finds, which were pretty hit and miss (more miss than anything else). The Lightfoot was really a random accident (awesome accident though ). I remember once when my parents got my sister a new bike (from Walmart, I think) for pretty cheap, and it really was a piece of crap. Massively heavy steel frame, sticking derailleurs, horrible ride...I swear it weighed at least twice what my then ~15 year old Jamis did. One of the things I really liked about the Lightfoot was the tires. I haven't seen something similar anywhere else, but they had a smooth ridge down the middle, so if they were pumped up to high pressure they had small footprint for road use, but if they were pumped to low pressure they were semi-knobby. That way it was easier and faster on the road, but could still get good purchase on the trail.

That we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin

Re: My new bike!

I have a friend from high school that raced back then and was at the top of his division in our province. Then he got into downhill and got sponsored by Norco. I should ask him what he does with his bikes when he gets new ones. I remember looking into Nicolai bikes back then and FS for mountain biking.

Re: My new bike!

So, I went into the store. The Giant was $750, not $700 as I previously stated. Still, I brought $750 cash so they would drop the tax. They threw in a free lock ($25 retail, so they weren't out much) for good measure. What's really smart about this is that we bought two bikes because they were knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, and they got us a good deal. I don't feel like I gouged them, and they know they got us a pretty decent price. The real benefit of this is that they now have a long term customer. I'm not going somewhere else to get my bike serviced because they have been good to me. If any of you ever start a business, keep this in mind. It almost never works with large business and big clients, but mom and pop stores should eat sleep and breathe that sort of mentality.

Re: My new bike!

Definitely agree on the customer service. It's things like that which make or break a small business, imo. Congrats on the deal for the second bike too.

That we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin